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HISTORY 



OF THE 
FIRST 

LEGISLATIVE 
ASSEMBLY 
.EVER 

CONVENED IN 
AMERICA 





OP THE 

U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



gie. 




Pages 13 and 14. 




JOHN W. PAULETT, 

for two years assistant state superintendent 

of public instruction for tennessee, 

Nashville, Tennessee. 



69209 



The Father of Representative Government 
in America. 

h 
T is not the purpose of this article to set 
forth any new discovery, nor to present any 
reflections which are especially startling or 



original. 

The purpose is, to emphasize a neglected fact 
of American history; a fact attested by ancient 
records, narrated in historical works, and familiar 
to historians ; yet a fact the full significance of 
which is not generally recognized. 

On the 30th day of July, 16 19, the first Legis- 
lative Assembly in America convened at James- 
town, Virginia. 

This assembly marked the first victory of pop- 
ular rights in the Western Hemisphere, and was 
in some respects the most remarkable Assembly 
that ever convened. It was not only the beacon 
light of freedom in America, but it also exercised 
an important reflex influence on the constitution 
of England, and is entitled to be included among 
the decisive events of history. 






The facts connected with this important event 
have been sketched by Bancroft, Cooke, and other 
historians, but they have not taken the hold which 
they deserve upon the popular heart, and are not 
treasured, as they should be, in the memory of 
every American. 

The most graphic picture which has been 
painted of this Assembly and its members will 
be found in The Virginia Magazine of Histojy 
for July, 1894. In this magazine is given the 
address delivered before the Virginia Historical 
Society by Hon. William Wirt Henry, to whose 
researches I am indebted for many of the facts 
narrated in this paper, and from whose graphic 
description I have obtained permission to quote 
several extracts. 

This Assembly was not so much a victory in 
itself, as it was the reward or first fruits of a 
victory already achieved. The battle for repre- 
sentative government in Virginia had been waged 
since the foundation of the Colony. The battle- 
field had been transferred from Jamestown to 
London, and the Council Chamber of the Virginia 
Company of London was the scene of the conflict. 
The victory was won, not by the sword, but by 



peaceful and manly resistance to oppression, and 
by appeal to justice and reason. 

Had it been won by force of arms, and lighted 
up by the glare of war, it would have occupied 
a more dramatic place in history, and possibly 
its incidents would have been depicted in more 
glowing colors on the imagination and memory ol 
posterity ; yet its beneficial effects would, perhaps, 
have been lessened. 

This was a victory of peace, and like the victo- 
ries of peace, was far-reaching and creative in 
results, rather than resplendent in imagery. 

Clearly to understand the contest which culmi- 
nated in this peaceful victory of liberty, let us 
glance briefly at the previous condition of the 
Colony. When Virginia was settled in 1607, the 
colonists brought with them the civilization, the 
customs, and the instincts of Englishmen. They 
claimed, also, by charter, the rights of Englishmen; 
yet the most valuable of these rights, the right 
of self-government, was denied them for twelve 
years. This right, however, can not long be 
withheld from any people of Anglo-Saxon blood. 
It was first won by Virginia simply for the reason 
that Virginia was the first settled colony. It 



would have been won by Massachusetts, though 
perhaps in a different form, had Massachusetts 
been first settled. But the Pilgrims did not land 
at Plymouth Rock until more than one year after 
Virginia had won the first battle of freedom in 
America, and had paved the way for according 
representative government to the future colonies 
of England. 

As soon as the colonists becran to feel that 
their residence in America was permanent, they 
began to grow restive under the system of gov- 
ernment which placed them under the absolute 
control of King James I. Finding the Colony a 
source of annoyance rather than profit, James I., 
in 1609, issued a second charter, nominally yield- 
ing to the requests and petitions of the "Virginia 
Company of Adventurers" the right of self-gov- 
ernment. 

This charter transferred to the Company the 
powers which had heretofore been reserved to the 
King. The colonists hailed this charter as a 
triumph, and flattered themselves that they had 
secured self-government. They soon found, how- 
ever, that the powers of government were inter- 



cepted at London, and they had secured only a 
change of masters. 

The Virginia Company of London consisted 
of a treasurer, who was, ex officio, the presiding 
officer, and who would be styled in modern organ- 
izations "The President"; a council, who would 
now be called a "Board of Directors"; and a 
large number of "■subscribers,'' or stockholders. 
It was this commercial company to which James L 
granted the power to control America. 

It is needless to recite that the colonists grew 
more and more dissatisfied with a system by which 
laws for their eovernment were made without their 
knowledge or consent, and were administered by a 
governor, a council, and other officers, who were 
often the agents of tyranny and oppression. The 
demand for self-government first took the form 
of muttered discontent; growing stronger and 
better organized, it assumed the bolder form of 
petition for the redress of grievances. Those who 
know the Anglo-Saxon race, know that this is the 
precursor of revolution. 

Fortunately for the colonists, they found at this 
juncture, among the rulers placed over them by 
the London Company, a steadfast and influential 



friend, whose heart beat in sympathy with popular 
rights, and who was destined in a few years to be 
the instrument for establishing" representative gov- 
ernment in America. 

Captain George Yardley'^' came to Virginia on 
the ship "Deliverance" in 1609. ''He was," says 
a distinguished writer, "a man of wealth and of 
well deserved influence." He was descended from 
a Staffordshire family, known as the " Lords of 
Yardley. ' One of his ancestors was a witness to 
the signature of King John to the first Magna 
Charta, June 15, 1215. Captain George Yardley 
was a subscriber, or stockholder in the London 
Company. He had served with distinction in Hol- 
land in the war against Spain. A contemporary 
said of him that he was "a soldier truly bred in 
the University of War in the Low Countries." He 
served as President of the Colonial Council until 
1 61 6, about which time he was married to Temper- 
ance West. In this year, Governor Sir Thomas 
Dale, departing for England in company with 
John Rolfe and his wife Pocahontas, left Captain 
Yardley as Deputy Governor. He was thus 
enabled by actual residence, and by official rela- 



See Genealogical Notes. 



tions with the colonists, to form a just estimate 
of their needs, and a true conception of their 
rights. His character and modes of thought made 
him the friend and supporter of popular rights at 
the time when the colonists needed a judicious 
and faithful friend. 

The storm was even then brewing among the 
commons of England which was destined in the 
next reign to deluge the island in blood, and to 
bring a king to the scaffold. The English people 
were beginning to mutter against royal preroga- 
tives, and they listened with sympathy to the com- 
plaints of the colonists. 

The Virginia Company was divided into two 
factions. The ruling party, known as the Court 
party, was led by the President, or Treasurer, 
Sir Thomas Smith. This party looked upon the 
colonists as servants of the Company, employed to 
do its bidding, as entitled to no political rights, 
and as instruments to be used for the pecuniary 
benefit of the Company and its officers. It was 
therefore, the policy of this party to govern the 
Colony by rigid regulations, and to permit the 
colonists no voice in the control of affairs. 

The continued complaints of the colonists, and 



the evident justice of their cause, had aroused the 
sympathy of the more Hberal members, and had 
brought to their aid a few powerful friends who 
looked beyond the grievances of the colonists to 
the effect which the assertion of Virginia rights 
would produce on public sentiment in England. 
In addition to this the mismanagement of the 
Company's affairs by the Court party, and the 
tyranny of its agents, had injured the value of the 
Company's property, had retarded and almost 
stopped immigration, and was beginning to drive 
many immigrants back to England. 

A strong party, known as the Virginia party, 
was formed within the London Company, at the 
head of which were Shakespeare's friend, the Earl 
of Southampton, Sir Edwin Sandys, and Mr. 
Nicholas Ferrar. 

It is not surprising that the principles and qual- 
ities which made Yardley beloved by the colonists, 
made him distasteful to the President of the Lon- 
don Company, and to the Court party. Capt. 
Samuel Arg-all, a relative of President Smith, and 
his commercial agent, was appointed to supersede 
"the mild and popular Yardley." This action was 
received by the colonists as a public calamity, and 



their indignation was freely expressed. In the 
end, however, it was fortunate for their interests. 

The tyranny and rapacity of Argall soon be- 
came notorious, and hastened the overthrow of the 
Court party. 

Yardley repaired to London, and presented to 
the Company the condition of affairs in the Colony. 
The cause of reform was warmly espoused by Sir 
Edwin Sandys, the Earl of Southampton, and other 
leaders of the Virginia party. A severe conflict 
ensued within the Company, which was eagerly 
watched by the people of England. The meet- 
ings of the Company were thronged with visitors. 
The Virginia remonstrances and the debates at 
the sessions of the Company became the theme 
of conversation in all parts of England. 

When the matter came to a vote, the Court 
party was completely overthrown. The colonial 
policy was radically changed. Argall was recalled. 
The rieht of local self-grovernment was accorded 
to Virginia. Captain George Yardley was elected 
Governor-General of the Colony. A little later 
Sir Thomas Smith was forced to resign with dam- 
age to his reputation, and Sir Edwin Sandys was 
elected President, or Treasurer. 



10 

A remarkable circumstance connected with 
these proceecHngs is the fact that they received 
the assent of the suspicious tyrant, James I. Gon- 
domar, the Spanish minister, warned him: "The 
Virginia Courts are but a seminary for a seditious 
Parhament." Many contemporaneous expressions 
show that the reflex influence which this Virginia 
House of Burgesses would exert upon the institu- 
tions of England was foreseen by the thinkers of 
that day. 

In addition to this, James was personally favor- 
able to the Court party, and disliked the leaders 
of the Virginia party. He especially detested Sir 
Edwin Sandys, and is reported to have said : 
" Elect the Devil if you will, but not Sir Edwin 
Sandys." Yet the effect of these measures so far 
escaped the microscopic vision of the cunning 
tyrant, that he not only assented to the new policy, 
but even gave it a qiuisi approval. 

He sent for Captain Yardley, the Governor- 
elect, received him graciously, admitted him to a 
lengthy interview, and finally, as a signal mark of 
the favor of the sovereign, conferred on him the 
honor of knighthood, November 22. 1618. 

A great victory had been achieved when Sir 



11 

George Yardley, successful in his mission, honored 
by the London Company, favored by his sovereign, 
and secure of the love of the colonists, sailed from 
England January 29, 1619, bearing his commission 
and instructions to confer on Virginia the right of 
local self-government. 

After reaching Jamestown, he entered upon 
the duties of his office as Governor-General, April 
19, 1619. 

" From the moment of Yardley's arrival," says 
Bancroft, "dates the real life of the Colony, He 
made proclamation ' that those cruell lawes, by 
which the ancient planters had been soe longe 
governed, were now abrogated, and that they were 
to be governed by those free lawes, which his 
majesties subjects lived under in Englande.' Nor 
were these concessions left dependent on the good 
will of administrative officers. ' That the planters 
might have a hande in the governinge of them- 
selves, yt was graunted that a Generall Assemblie 
shoulde be held yearly once, whereat were to be 
present the Governor and Counsell, with two Bur- 
gesses from each plantation, freely to be elected 
by the inhabitantes thereof, this Assemblie to have 
power to make and ordaine whatsoever lawes and 



12 

orders shoulde by them be thought good and proi- 
fitable for their subsistence.' " 

Early in June, Sir George Yardley " sente his 
summons all over the country, as well to invite 
those of the Counsell of Estate that were absente, 
as also for the election of the Burgesses." 

Then came the first general election. Let us 
picture in imagination the pride and pleasure with 
which our ancestors assembled in their respective 
precincts to elect their first representatives. There 
were some old English prejudices, but no organized 
parties. Possibly, there may have been some art- 
ful dodging of issues, but this had not been reduced 
to the science of a party platform. There were no 
political bosses, no election machinery, no ballot 
boxes. Proud of the exercise of the elective fran- 
chise, the colonists voted, as freemen should be 
proud to vote, viva voce. 

From each of the eleven boroughs, or hundreds, 
or plantations, two delegates, called Burgesses, 
were elected. These names should live in the his- 
tory of all Americans, for this Assembly repre- 
sented all of the English race then in America. I 
quote their names from the lists given by Mr. 
Henry, as follows : 



13 

For James City: Captain William Powell, and 
Ensign Wm. Spence. 

For Charles City: Samuel Sharp, and Samuel 
Jordan. 

For the City of Henricus (Dutch Gap) : Thos. 
Dowse, and John Polentine, 

For Kiccowtan (Hampton): Captain William 
Tucker, and William Capp. 

For Smythe's Hundred: Capt. Thomas Graves, 
and Walter Shelley. 

For Martin's Hundred: John Boys, and John 
Jackson. 

For Argall's Guifte : Captain Thomas Pawlett, 
and Mr. Gourgaing, 

For Flouer dieu Hundred : Ensign Rosingham, 
and Mr. Jefferson. 

For Lawn's Plantation (Isle of Wight) : Capt. 
Christopher Lawne, and Ensign Washer. 

For Ward's Plantation : Captain Warde, and 
Lieutenant Gibbs. 

For Martin's Plantation: Thomas Davis, and 
Robert Stacey. 

Many of these names will be recognized as 
household words. Among them, many deserve 



14 

comment, but the limits of tliis paper will permit 
mention of only one. 

The name of Captain Thomas Pawlett is con- 
spicuous in Virginia history. He was a brother 
of Robert Paulett, who was appointed one of the 
Councillors of Virg-inia, but declined the office, and 
also of Lord lohn Powlett, The name was spelled 
in three different ways, and the three brothers 
seemed to have adopted three different modes of 
spelling it. In 1623, Captain Thomas Pawlett re- 
ceived a grant for the famous estate of Westover, 
on James River, which was bequeathed at his death 
to his brother. Lord John Powlett, and which sub- 
sequently became the property of Colonel William 
Byrd, the author of the Dividing Line. From this 
family is descended Major John W. Paulett, now a 
citizen of Nashville, Tennessee. 

On the 30th day of July, 16 19, the Burgesses 
assembled at Jamestown, and representative gov- 
ernment in America was an accomplished fact. 

Let us use our imagination to depict the scene 
in which these actors with simplicity unaffected, 
and with grandeur all unconscious, shaped intui- 
tively and accurately the model of American Leg- 
islation. 



15 

Says Mr. Henry: "On the memorable morning 
of the 30th of July, 16 19, the Governor went in 
state to the church. He was accompanied by the 
Councillors and officers of the Colony, with a guard 
of Halberdiers dressed in the Governor's livery. 
Behind them walked with becoming dignity the 
twenty-two newly-elected Burgesses." 

"In the contemporaneous account sent to 
England by the Speaker, we are told : ' The most 
convenient place we coulde find to sitt in was the 
Quire of the Church, where Sir George Yardley, 
the Governor, being sett down in his accustomed 
place, those of the Counsell of Estate sate nexte 
him on both handes, except only the Secretary, 
then appointed Speaker, who sate right before 
him. John Twine, Gierke of the General Assem- 
bly, being placed nexte to the Speaker, and Thos. 
Pierse, the Sero^eant, standinof at the barre, to be 
ready for any service the Assembly should com- 
mand him. But forasmuche as men's affaires doe 
little prosper where God's service is neglected, 
all the Burgesses took their places in the Quire 
till a prayer was said by Mr. Bucke, the minister, 
that it would please God to guide and sanctifie 
all our proceedings to his owne glory, and the 



16 

good of this plantation. Prayer being ended, to 
the intente that as we had begun at God Ahnighty, 
so we might proceed with awful and due respecte 
towards the Lieutenant, our most gratious and 
dread soveraigne, all the Burgesses were entreated 
to retyre themselves into the body of the Churche, 
which being done, before they were freely ad- 
mitted, they were called to order and by name, 
and so every man (none staggeringe at it) tooke 
the oath of Supremacy, and then entered the 
Assembly." 

Let us glance at the Councillors, who sat on 
either side of Governor Yardley. Says Mr. Henry: 
"They were all Englishmen of high type, and fol- 
lowing ancient customs, they sat with their hats 
on. '■■■ * * 

"Among them was Sir Francis West, the son 
of Sir Thomas West, the second Lord De La Warr. 
He was subsequently to become Governor of Vir- 
ginia. He was a direct descendant of William the 
Conqueror. 

"Captain Nathaniel Powell had come to Vir- 
ginia with the first colonists ; had been with New- 
port when he explored York River, and with Smith 
when he explored Chesapeake Bay. He was a 



man of culture, and kept an account of occurrences 
in the Colony, which had been freely used by 
Captain Smith in his history of Virginia. 

"John Rolfe had come to Virginia with Sir 
Thomas Gates. In 1612 he introduced the sys- 
tematic culture of tobacco in Virginia. In 16 14 
he had married the Princess Pocahontas, whom he 
carried to England in 16 16. 

"The Rev. William Wickham was of a promi- 
nent family. He added the dignity of the clergy 
to the Assembly in which he sat. 

"Captain Samuel Maycock was a Cambridge 
scholar, and a gentleman of birth, virtue, and in- 
dustry. 

"John Pory, Secretary of the Colony, sat as 
the Speaker of the Burgesses. He had been 
educated at Cambridge, and was an accomplished 
scholar. He was a disciple of the celebrated 
Hackluyt, who left the highest testimonials to his 
learning. Having served in Parliament, he was 
able to give order to their proceedings, and proper 
form to their acts. 

"The Rev, Richard Bucke, the officiatinor 
minister, was educated at Oxford, and was an 
able and learned divine. He married in Virginia, 



was the minister at Jamestown, where, in 1641, 
he performed the marriage ceremony between 
Rolfe and the Indian Princess Pocahontas. The 
church in which the Assembly met had been built 
for him, wholly at the charge of the inhabitants of 
James City." 

The first act of the Burgesses was to purge 
their roll. They excluded the two Burgesses from 
Martin's plantation on the ground that this planta- 
tion, by the terms of its patent, was exempt from 
the general form of government prescribed for the 
Colony, and they petitioned the London Company 
to amend the patent, so that there might be no 
grant whereby "the uniformity and equality of 
lawes and orders extending over the whole Colony 
might be impeached." Says Mr. Henry: "Thus 
early did Virginia insist upon the equality of her 
citizens before the law, a principle re-asserted in 
her Declaration of Right, in 1776, when she be- 
came a State." 

The next step was to call upon the Speaker to 
read the commission creating the Assembly. 

" He read unto them the commission for estab- 
lishing the Counsell of Estate and the General 
Assembly, wherein their duties were described to 



19 

the life. Having thus prepared them, he read 
over unto them the great Charter or commission 
of priviledges, orders, and lawes, sent by Sir 
George Yardley, out of England." The next 
step was to appoint committees. The Assembly 
was then ready for business. 

They adjourned at the end of five days, having 
transacted a greater amount of business, more 
novel in character, and more far-reaching in effects, 
than has, perhaps, ever been transacted by any 
subsequent Legislature in the same length of time. 

Let us examine some of the features which 
this remarkable Assembly, with no precedent or 
guide, except the experience of their Speaker as 
a member of Parliament, has spontaneously and 
permanently stamped upon the organization of 
legislative assemblies and the forms of American 
legislation. 

1. The organization, Speaker, Clerk, Sergeant- 
at-Arms. 

2. The opening with prayer. 

3. The swearing in of members. 

4. Purging the roll. 

5. The appointment of committees. 

It is to be regretted that the example of the 



20 

rapid dispatch of business, which was so conspic- 
uously set by this model Assembly, has not like- 
wise descended to posterity. In noting the pro- 
ceeding's, one remarkable fact strikes the reader, 
viz. : Matters referred to the committees were 
usually reported the next day. 

Six petitions were sent by the Assembly to 
the London Company. These related, for the 
most part, to the allotment, tenure, and descent 
of lands, and to reoulations for immig-ration. 
One petition deserves especial notice, being the 
first movement in favor of education in America. 
The Company is entreated, that "towards the 
erecting of the university and college, they will 
sende, when they shall think it most convenient, 
workmen of all sortes, fit for the purpose." The 
plans for the establishment of the " university and 
college" were frustrated by the Indian massacre 
of 1622, but the effort many years later culmi- 
nated in the establishment of William and Mary 
College. 

Next, came the report of the committee to 
whom had been referred "the great Charter of 
lawes, orders, and priviledges," brought by Sir 
George Yardley. This committee had been can- 



21 

tiously instructed to report whether it contained 
anything- "not perfectly squaring with the State ot 
the Colony, or any law pressing or binding too 
hard, because this great Charter is to bind us and 
our heirs forever," After receiving the report, 
"there remaining no further scruple in the mindes 
of the Assembly touching the great Charter of 
lawes, orders, and priviledges, the Speaker putt 
the same to question, and so it hath the general 
assent and applause of the whole Assembly." 

Then followed a number of laws of both public 
and private nature, relating to taxation, agriculture, 
religion, crimes, misdemeanors, intercourse with the 
Indians, and many other matters. The Assembly 
then sat as a criminal court. 

It would be interesting, did not the limits of 
this paper prohibit, to note the quaintness of some 
of these laws, as well as the shrewdness and sagac- 
ity of this primitive legislation. 

I can not forbear to mention three acts which 
bear witness to the foresioht of these legfislators, 
and the orioinal character of the statutes which 
they crowded into their five days' session. ( i ) 
They passed a law to provide for taking a census 
of the inhabitants, this being the first legislation 



for a census. (2) They passed laws for recording 
births, marriages, and deaths. (3) They passed a 
law fixing the price of tobacco at three shillings a 
pound lor the best, and eighteen pence a pound 
" for the second sort." 

The importance of this last provision will be 
apparent when it is remembered that tobacco was 
the currency of the country, and that fluctuations 
in its value affected our ancestors as disastrously 
as we are now aftected by fluctuations in the rela- 
tive value of ofold and silver. The committee of 
this model Assembly, however, was able to report 
on the currency question in one day, and the 
Assembly solved the problem on the next. The 
intermeddling of the English government with the 
value of tobacco as a currency, at a later date, 
prompted by the supposed interests of English 
merchants, caused much discontent in the Colony, 
and gave rise to the famous Parson's Case, in 
which the eloquence of the "forest-born Demos- 
thenes" first burst into flame. 

The Assembly closed its labors with a petition 
to the London Company to amend the "Great 
Charter of lawes, orders, and priviledges " by con- 
firming a o-rant which the charter merely held out 



23 

as a promise for the future. I quote the words of 
the petition : 

"Their last humble suite is, that the said 
Counsell and Company would be pleased, so soon 
as they shall finde it convenient, to make good 
their promise sett down at the conclusion of their 
commission for establishing the Counsell of Estate 
and the Generall Assembly, namely, that they will 
give us power to allowe or disallowe of their 
orders of courts, as his Majesty hath given them 
power to allowe or reject our lawes." 

This petition has been styled "The First Dec- 
laration of Independence." It is not, however, a 
declaration. It is a petition for independence. 
Its language is not defiant and assertive, like the 
famous Declaration of 1776; yet it evinces, in the 
weakness of infancy, the same spirit, which 
strengthened with the growth of the Colony ; 
which, in 1676, blazed out in Bacon's Rebellion; 
which lound stern utterance in the resolutions of 
1765: 

''Resolved, That the General Assembly of this 
Colony have the sole right and power to lay taxes 
and impositions upon the inhabitants of this Col- 
ony ; and that any attempt to vest such power in 



24 

any person or persons, whatsoever, other than the 
General Assembly aforesaid, has a manifest ten- 
dency to destroy British, as well as American 
freedom." 

This sentiment found its grandest expression 
in the words spoken before a Virginia Convention, 
in 1775: "Give me liberty or give me death" — 
words second in sublimity only to the divine fiat, 
"Let there be light"; and which reached its cul- 
mination in 1776, when a Virginia delegate moved: 
"These united colonies are, and of rioht oueht to 
be, free and independent States," and a Virginian 
statesman penned the immortal Declaration. 

The limits of this paper will not permit me to 
trace in detail the subsequent history of those 
connected with this first Legislative Assembly in 
America. The petition of the House of Burgesses 
was granted by the London Company. On the 
24th of July, 1 62 1, the Company amended its 
previous liberal grants of power to the colonists 
by formulating a written constitution, embracing 
nearly all the features contained in the several 
petitions of the House of Burgesses, and espe- 
cially the feature granting the Burgesses a veto 
on the orders of the Company. The following 



25 

quotation from Bancroft sketches the provisions of 
this constitution : 

" Its terms are few and simple ; a Governor, 
to be appointed by the Company ; a permanent 
Council, likewise to be appointed by the Company; 
a General Assembly, to be convened yearly and 
to consist of the members of the Council and of 
two Burgesses to be chosen from each of the 
several plantations by the respective inhabitants. 
The Assembly might exercise full legislative au- 
thority, a negative voice being reserved lo the 
Governor; but no law or ordinance would be valid 
unless ratified by the Company in England. It 
was further ag-reed that after government of the 
Colony should have once been framed, no orders 
from the Court in London should bind the Colony, 
unless they should in like manner be ratified by 
the General Assembly." 

These concessions show the complete ascend- 
ency of the Virginia party in the London Com- 
pany. This liberal policy continued during the 
existence of the Company, but the time of reac- 
tion was at hand. 

James I. began to awaken to the significance 
of these proceedings. He recalled the words of 



26 

the Spanish minister, and repented of his acqui- 
escence in the new colonial policy. The fever of 
a tyrant's hatred began to burn in his veins against 
the London Company. He called to his councils 
the former President, Sir Thomas Smith, and the 
rapacious Captain Samuel Argall, on the latter of 
whom he conferred the honor of kniorhthood. Lend- 
ing a ready ear to these malcontents, he entered upon 
a crusade against the leaders of the Virginia party. 
His active hostility forced Sir Edwin Sandys 
from office, and finally caused his imprisonment. 
George Sandys was elected by the Company to 
succeed his brother. Sir Edwin. Later, the office 
devolved upon the Earl of Southampton, Yardley 
was forced by ill health and the hostility of the 
King to decline re-election. At a meeting of 
the Company held January 29, 1621, the Earl of 
Southampton stated that "he had received adver- 
tisement of Sir George Yardley's importuning de- 
sire to relinquish his said ofifice at the expiration of 
his said commission." He accordingly nominated 
Sir Francis VVyatt to succeed him. The Court 
took time to consider the matter, and at its next 
session elected Sir Francis Wyatt as Governor- 
General of Virginia. 



The hostility of James, however, did not drive 
the Company from its hberal poHcy. They pro- 
ceeded to enact the written constitution above 
recited, and sent it to the Colony by the new 
Governor, Sir Francis Wyatt. The persistence of 
the Company in this liberal policy so exasperated 
James that he demanded the surrender of the 
charter, to which demand the Company returned 
a dignified refusal. The King then proceeded 
by judicial process. On the i6th day of June, 
1624, the Court of King's Bench, whose judges 
sat at the royal pleasure, pronounced judgment 
against the Company, and its charter was de- 
clared "forfeited." 

The dissolution ot the London Company seri- 
ously endangered the liberties of Virginia. The 
Company had been an anomaly in government. 
It had been an intermediate link between the 
King and the Colony. Under the control of the 
Virginia party, it served the purpose of substitut- 
ing the public sentiment of the English people in 
place of royal despotism in the colonial policy of 
England, It had acted a noble and patriotic part. 
It had confirmed to the Colony the priceless and 
irrevocable gift of representative government, and 



28 

had given to the English people a lesson and an 
example. Its dissolution left the people of 
England to profit by the lesson, and the people 
of Virginia to guard the gift. How well the 
English people learned the lesson may be read 
in the history of the Stuarts. The sagacity, firm- 
ness, and boldness with which the Virginians 
guarded the gift, excites the admiration and grat- 
itude ot prosperity. 

The temper of the colonists was subjected to 
an immediate test. The crafty King had sent a 
commission to Virginia, consisting of Sir John 
Harvey, afterwards a royal governor, Mr. Samuel 
Matthews, and John Pory. It is to be regretted 
that the name of John Pory is found in such com- 
pany, for he had been Secretary of the Colony 
under Yardley, and the ex-officio Speaker of the 
first Assembly. He had now been brought over 
to the royal interest. These commissioners were 
sent to investigate the condition of the Colony. 
They had, also, a secret mission. They were in- 
structed to procure by promises, threats, or artifice, 
from the House of Burgesses an expression of 
approval of the King's policy, a petition for the 
dissolution of the London Company, and a sur- 



29 

render of the Yardley charter and the subsequent 
constitution. 

The commissioners found to their surprise and 
chagrin, that the colonists were too firm and wary 
to be cajoled. Instead of the compliance expected 
of them, the House of Burgesses sent by a mes- 
senger of their own a protest against the proceed- 
ings of the King, a defense of the London Com- 
pany, and a refusal to surrender either the Yardley 
charter or the constitution. 

The King now entered upon the task of fram- 
ing a system of government for Virginia, in accord- 
ance with the purpose which he had previously 
announced to Parliament, as follows: "That he 
would hereafter take the affairs of the Virginia 
Company into his own serious consideration and 
care ; and that by the next Parliament, they would 
all see that he would make it one of his master- 
pieces ^ Death, however, interrupted his plans, 
and spoiled the '"• masterpiece ^ 

When Charles I. ascended the throne of his 
father, March 27, 1625, he manifested indifference 
to the political questions relating to Virginia, and 
seemed to be interested only in measures of secur- 
ing a revenue from the industries of the colonists. 



30 

He seemed not to comprehend the principles in- 
voh^ed in the contest, and showed some desire for 
popularity. 

Now came the second triumph of the "Father 
of Representative Government" in America. Sir 
George Yardley was recalled from retirement, and 
as a love-offering- from the King to the colonists, 
he was appointed Governor- General of Virginia. 
His commission was dated April 19, 1626, being 
the seventh anniversary of his former entrance 
upon office. This commission conferred on him the 
unusual power ot filling by his own appointment, 
all vacancies existing in the " Counsell ot Estate." 
He entered upon the duties May 17, 1626, and 
continued in office until his death. The early his- 
torians who recorded the events of this period did 
not seem to comprehend the significance ot the 
" First Legislative Assembly." They ignored the 
important part taken by Yardley, and the love 
which was felt for him by the colonists. Posterity 
sympathizes with the colonists, and accords to 
Yardley his rightful place in history 

We close this sketch with a quotation from 
Bancroft: "The re-appointment ot Yardley was in 
itself a guarantee that representative government 



31 

would be maintained ; for it was Yardley who had 
introduced the system, 

"Virginia rose rapidly in public esteem ; in 
1627 a thousand immigrants arrived, and there 
was an increasing demand upon the products of 
the soil. 

"In November, 1627, the career of Yardley 
was closed by death. The colonists in a letter to 
the privy council, gave a eulogy on his virtues. 
Posterity retains a grateful recollection of the man 
who first convened a representative assembly in 
the Western Hemisphere." 



W. R. Garrett. 



Chair of American History, 
Peabody Normal College, Nashville, Tenn. 



Bytx»aaim 

NOV 13 ]m 



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